Long Island Bus service: salvaged?

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Nassau County and state Senate Republicans announced an agreement on April 1 to avert proposed cuts to the MTA’s Long Island Bus service. The cuts, which were announced in March, were expected to affect more than half of Nassau County’s bus routes, including the N14 North Rockville Centre Loop Bus.

In February, the MTA announced that 100,000 daily Long Island Bus riders would face dramatic cuts in the spring, in an effort to save $26 million — the amount that MTA officials said was needed to maintain existing bus service. Long Island Bus services were expected to be cut by 56 percent, and the service reductions would have impacted nearly 16,000 riders on 27 of 48 Long Island Bus routes.

The MTA was scheduled to vote on service cuts at its April board meeting. However, hundreds of L.I. Bus riders attended a public hearing at Hofstra University last week to voice their concerns about the service cuts, and local officials responded.

“We have heard from many of our constituents that depend on Long Island Bus services to get to work, school or go shopping,” said Sen. Dean Skelos, the Senate’s majority leader. “They are very concerned that if these cuts go through, they will have no other way to get around. Fortunately, we were able to reach an agreement to avert the cuts and prevent any disruption in service.”

$8.6 million in MTA funds, made available by the Senate, will be used to run the bus service through the end of the year. The money was taken from the Senate’s Capital Program, and will augment the $52.4 million in state funding for L.I. Bus in the 2011-12 state budget.

Jay Walder, the MTA’s chairman and CEO, said that the agency will continue to operate L.I. Bus services at its current levels through the end of 2011, and will then work with the county to ensure a smooth transition to a private operator before 2012. Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano said that beginning next January, the MTA will enter into a public-private partnership, partially breaking ties with the service, which would enable Nassau County to provide residents with more affordable bus routes.